Page 17 of Her Reborn Mate

No one would suspect a thing if I perched on the bar’s roof. Alexis’s room would be just beneath me, allowing me to see what was happening. I’d also be able to hear her. My vicinity to her would allow me to intervene if anything happened.

When the police had cleared the area, and when many customers had started going into the bar, I snuck behind into the alley and climbed up the roofs till I was on the rooftop of the bar.

I breathed a deep sigh of relief as I saw that there was a skylight fixed on the rooftop of the bar, granting me a sight of Alexis’s room. She was in there, talking to someone on the phone.

I pressed my ear close to the skylight and heard her talking.

“I’m not going to go out tonight, Lawrence. I’m sorry. I’m just so shaken right now. Someone murdered five people in the alley in front of the bar. The police were here all morning, interviewing the bartender. They even asked me some questions. I’m just too disturbed to go out tonight. I saw the police drag five body bags out of that alley,” she said.

Then the man on the line said something, in response to which she said, “You can come over if you want. I have a laptop. We can watch some random shit and distract ourselves from the frailty of life.”

The man said something more.

“Perfect. I’ll have the cook make you something nice. Do you like tacos?”

Well, this was not good news. She was already inviting this man into her home. This was reckless behavior. What did she even know about this man?

I tested my patience as I stayed on the roof and watched the man park his car across the street and come around the back of the alley. He climbed up the stairs and knocked on her sliding window.

Now I could see them both in the room.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” the man said, hugging Alexis.

“I’m not easily scared, but five bodies are a bit much, even for me,” she said.

“Why don’t you pour us a drink, and we can talk about it?” the man said.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Alexis said. She was now pouring wine into the two glasses with her back turned to the man.

“You mean you don’t know why five men—if that’s what they were—were found dead across your bar?” he asked.

“What’s with this interrogative line of questioning?” she laughed. “Are you being funny? It’s too soon to be funny. They were five men. They must have had lives. Families. Goals.”

“Nope,” the man said.

I was shocked to hear that word come from him. Even more shocked to see what he was doing. His hand was in his pocket, stroking something. Could this sick fuck be masturbating to the sight of my mate? I was pressed so firmly against the skylight that I feared cracking it.

“What do you mean by no?”

“They weren’t men,” the man said. “They were vampires.”

The two glasses fell from Alexis’s hands. She gasped. “How do you know?”

“It’s 'cause I was in charge of them, sweetie. Blair and Ralph paid me half a million to hunt you down and kill you. I knew the vampires couldn’t do it. I told Ralph that they wouldn’t be able to. I was right. You’re one tough cookie.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Alexis asked.

“I’m the guy the boogeyman hires when he’s fucked up. Sadly, for you, I’m the last person you see before you die. My, my, you caused such a fucking mess, didn’t you? Killing all those guys in Fiddler’s Green. Your mate dead. Your life uprooted. I almost think that killing you is a mercy. But the bosses disagree with me, baby. I’m going to have to end your life. It’s better if you scream. I always like it when they scream.”

Then he took his hand out of his pocket, revealing an army knife.

Alexis was backed up against the wall when the man lunged at her from across the room.

Chapter 7: Alexis

It was not humanly possible for me to react to the revelation that Lawrence was not who he said he was in the few seconds after he stated that he was working for my two worst enemies. How naïve was I to have fallen for the first charming man to come my way without questioning his intent? In a way, my death at his hands was a well-deserved punishment for my stupidity.

As he leaped across the room, his army knife extended in front of him, time stood still, which I recognized as the classic marker for one’s end-of-life moments. My life was flashing before my eyes. My parents. Fiddler’s Green. Will. Will dying—all of my life—a reel of pain and agony.